Editorial: Five Points rezoning an important step

Sun Journal Staff

Monday

Jan 28, 2013 at 12:01 AMJan 28, 2013 at 11:34 AM

The city has picked up the pace in its effort to revitalize the Five Points area downtown, and in so doing has set in place rezoning that in effect puts the old Days Inn building out of the hotel business.

The city has picked up the pace in its effort to revitalize the Five Points area downtown, and in so doing has set in place rezoning that in effect puts the old Days Inn building out of the hotel business.

What options remain for how the high-rise hotel can be used have been limited to uses that can be described as “neighborhood commercial.”

One supposes the old hotel can be filled with book stores, coffee houses, antique shops, etc. But more likely the building, denied its intended use, will have to come down to make room for other uses that fit the area’s new zoning requirements.

And that’s a good thing. The hotel has been unused for more than three years and is falling apart. It has become a blight on what was once, and hoped to one day again be, a prime gateway to downtown New Bern.

Gone are the days when Five Points was a major city intersection as motorists made their way to the coast. The U.S. 70 bypass (the original one, not the planned one) made sure of that.

Rerouting all that traffic cast the Days Inn, once the city’s most important hotel, adrift. A variety of owners have struggled to make a profit at the building ever since.

The present Board of Aldermen was swept into office after a contentious election in 2009 that sent every incumbent who ran packing but one, Dana Outlaw. Among the promises made during the campaign was to reverse a widely held belief that the city was neglecting the Five Points area.

In fact, one of the first actions of the newly elected aldermen and mayor was to task Swiss Bear Downtown Development with working its magic in Five Points the same way it did for downtown over the past three decades.

Consistent zoning in the Broad Street corridor at Five Points is an important step. And finding a solution to the leaking, decrepit, economically unviable hotel there is likely the biggest hurdle of all.

City officials are likely looking to acquire the old building at a price more reflecting its value, and then tear it down. The vacant land that will result, coupled with other vacant parcels and underutilized lots, could be the blank canvas needed for investors to switch their sights to that area.

This will be a long process, one that will change over time as new opportunities and challenges are presented.

But it’s a process that New Bern has demonstrated better than any small town that it can tackle. Its downtown, after all, was once all but abandoned. And look at it now.

Never miss a story

Choose the plan that's right for you.
Digital access or digital and print delivery.

Advertising

News

Original content available for non-commercial use under a Creative Commons license, except where noted.
New Bern Sun Journal ~ 3200 Wellons Blvd., New Bern, NC 28562 ~ Privacy Policy ~ Terms Of Service